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WLKP vs. ECL: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Chemical - Specialty stocks have likely encountered both Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP - Free Report) and Ecolab (ECL - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Westlake Chemical Partners is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Ecolab has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that WLKP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

WLKP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.90, while ECL has a forward P/E of 48.61. We also note that WLKP has a PEG ratio of 3.02. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ECL currently has a PEG ratio of 4.85.

Another notable valuation metric for WLKP is its P/B ratio of 0.73. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ECL has a P/B of 9.27.

Based on these metrics and many more, WLKP holds a Value grade of A, while ECL has a Value grade of D.

WLKP has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ECL, so it seems like value investors will conclude that WLKP is the superior option right now.


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Ecolab Inc. (ECL) - free report >>

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